by Ray George
The North Southampton Community Forum held its AGM on 13th November. The meeting was rather unbalanced by the time taken up with the Southampton Common Forum, since the Forum had its own AGM two weeks later which is dealt with separately in this Newsletter.
Police Community Support Officer Hayley Morrison, one of now only five for the Portswood Neighbourhood, said they had a Facebook page, SouthamptonCops. There was some good news that the large number of burglaries by smashing windows had now stopped because someone had been caught. In fact, they were not getting many burglaries at the moment. Portswood Police Station is open again Tuesday to Saturday.
Helen Owens who is involved with the Council’s Community Engagement and Consultation said that the first consultation on the main component of the development plan “Southampton City Vision” will start early this year. The National Planning Policy Framework, which was revised in 2019, requires a much bigger role for views of the community. When adopted, it will provide the City’s development plan for up to 2040. To meet its housing requirements of 1000 new homes per year, Southampton, with limited space, will have to build upwards.
A favourite theme of the Forum is Houses in Multiple Occupation and Stephen Harrison, Senior Manager, Planning and Enforcement, addressed this topic. Under an Article 4 Direction in Southampton, HMOs require planning permission for change of use and also licencing. These are separate and houses can be licenced without having the required planning permission.